Aarani Mathialagan

Aarani Mathialagan was the illustrator of ImmigrantWomenInSTEM.org.

“Immigrant women in STEM are not a monolith. Uplifting them means embracing their lived experiences, including those of racialized, disabled, queer, trans, neurodivergent, and otherwise marginalized immigrant women. From astrology to zoology, the illustrations showcase women in less represented STEM areas like computer science and engineering and highly represented areas like education and healthcare. I am optimistic that it will strike a chord with women who currently work in these fields now or hope to do so one day.

Real people in my life inspired details in the illustrations. See the geologist wearing a marital necklace (called a thali in Tamil)? It’s just like the one my mom wears. And there’s the physicist in a flowy, pink floral dress, presenting her work on particle accelerators. I remembered a Tik Tok influencer sharing her personal style and hyper-femme aesthetic, calling out the exclusion of Black women from mainstream depictions of femininity. Then we have a laboratory technician with colourful pins on their lab coat, including a “they/she” pronoun pin. A friend of mine has at least twenty pins on their denim jacket and a couple more on their lab coat at work. These little details offer a small glimpse into intersecting identities that shape the experiences of immigrant women. And these are just the ones that we can see.

I hope these illustrations represent the mosaic of identities and experiences of immigrant women in STEM.”

Dani Elizondo

Dani Elizondo was the animation designer and animator of the We Were Here All Along short film

As a Méxican storyteller who loves working with materials, textures, and colours, Dani was in charge of the animation design and animation for this short film. Her work is a collection of illustrations, stop motion, 2D animation and any crafty combination of those. As a 2020 Sheridan college Animation alumnus, she enjoys making work that captures the wonder, charm, and ennui of life. You can usually find her working away, reading, listening to podcasts, or on an adventure at a park with her dog, Louie. Learn more about Dani’s work here.

How does being a young artist from México weave into your animation work? How did that play into how you envisioned Maia's story?
Being an artist from México, I can say that textures, colours and patterns have been big influences in my work. As a stop motion artist, I also see great value in materials, and I find that anything and everything can be used to build a world for a story. For this project, using "Welcome to Canada” booklets and paperwork from various applications that immigrant people are familiar with was a subtle, yet effective way to add onto the world surrounding Maia. From my experience, the whole immigration application process and paperwork are so present and overwhelming when applying. Even after you get approved to come into Canada, these things follow you everyday. "I got my study/work visa now, but for how long? Am I able to apply for permanent residency soon? Should I?" Those are some things that I have on the back of my mind every day. Being able to incorporate some of these forms effectively adds more emotion in a subtle way and helps carry the narrative of Maia's and many other women's experiences.

What made you choose the collage technique in creating the world Maia walks us through?
I think that through layering information, by presenting it in more ways than just straight out, clearly shows it is important. It's like, you have all of this information, experiences and emotions. If we were to give an equal amount of attention in the frame throughout a whole video, it might be overwhelming to look at. We wanted to get people's attention. We wanted to maintain the attention throughout the video. The way we achieved that was through a juxtaposition of showing what could be familiar to you (paperwork, forms, key words, articles) and adding visual interest through composition, the use of positive and negative space, to guide the eye and keep your interest. Hopefully, after watching the video, you feel Maia's experience and understand the purpose of the project.

Elizabeth Kalbfleisch

Elizabeth Kalbfleisch was the producer and co-writer of the We Were Here All Along short film

Elizabeth served as producer, co-writer, and as one of the voices in this film. She brings an interest in cultural interventions and knowledge translation to her work. As a former academic and cultural professional with a doctorate in Visual and Cultural Studies, she has conducted curatorial and scholarly research in communities and collections throughout North America, contributed content to documentary film and television projects, and provided research support to exhibition development and cultural policy projects. She completed a Masters of Information Studies at the University of Toronto in Spring 2022.

What is your hope for the film's impact?
My hope for the film is that it takes on a life of its own. When we were making it, my top concerns were staying true to the perspectives shared by the research study’s participants and creating a tool that could be useful as well as captivating. I very much hope that there are women – whether they participated in the research or not – who can point to this film as validation of their experiences. Beyond this, however, I am excited about the prospect of it being viewed by other audiences as well. As I see how people are moved by this story, I hope that it provokes discussion amongst others and in contexts I hadn’t imagined.

What was unique about this project?
As much as I felt accountable to the women, the researchers, and our funders, I also felt very supported in my wish to produce something beautiful. I believe in the capacity of art to tell stories and promote advocacy, but the film confirms for me that art can be a powerful tool for sharing research knowledge. I think the film is strong enough to stand on its own, but it also drives home the point that art has a place within the realm of research and can support more traditional forms of disseminating knowledge.

How has this project changed you?
Like many people, I believed I knew this story: that Canada’s immigration system is flawed, that racism and cultural bias are insidious, and that women experience inequities in the workplace and in STEM fields on account of their gender. But seeing evidence of the extent of it and having access to the women’s direct accounts of their experiences has unsettled me. Making the video has allowed me to share in the telling of this story and I will continue to speak up about it. The project may have wrapped, but these women’s stories are not leaving me.

Sukaina Kubba

Sukaina Kubba was the voice actor for the We Were Here All Along short film.

Sukaina is an Iraqi-born, Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist who voiced the film’s main character, Maia. She explores narratives of cultural and material assimilation and appropriation In her research and studio practice. She navigates the position of painting and drawing in relation to architecture, craft, writing, performance, and digital practices in her work. She is currently a sessional lecturer in Visual Studies at Daniels Faculty at the University of Toronto. From 2013 to 2018, she was a lecturer and curator at the Glasgow School of Art. Learn more about Sukaina’s work here.